[6][7][8] The name "Tarndanya", sometimes recorded as "Dharnda anya" (or variant spelling) by colonial sources, means "red kangaroo rock" and was reportedly the name used by the Kaurna people for "the site of South Adelaide" or the central-South Adelaide area; the local people whose central camp had been "in or near Victoria Square" were called the "Dundagunya tribe" by colonial sources.

It is the focus for many political and community-based Indigenous events, such as the National Sorry Day commemoration held by Journey of Healing (SA) on 26 May each year.

[12] Each year during NAIDOC Week in July, there is a "family fun day" held at the square and a march to Parliament House.

The west side of the square contains more commercially oriented buildings, including an entrance to the Adelaide Central Market, the Hilton hotel, and the offices of various consultants, law firms and insurance companies.

[17][18] During the 1960s the Aboriginal community renewed its activities in Victoria Square, with the area in front of what was then the central Police Station, (and is now the Commonwealth Law Courts building), becoming a social and gathering point.

The design incorporated a central square to function as Adelaide's focal point and provide open space for recreational activities.

[citation needed] The square was a dusty, treeless paddock until 1854, when the Adelaide City Council embarked on a planting program, constructed four broad diagonal pedestrian paths and erected a wooden fence.

[citation needed] The landscaping work was designed by George William Francis, later the first director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

[21] The original tram terminus was located outside the Charles Moore & Company department store with services operating via a loop in an anti-clockwise direction in the south-western corner.

On 12 July 1971, the red, black and yellow Aboriginal flag designed by Harold Thomas was flown for the first time – in Victoria Square.

[28] The full development included:[29] Located in the centre of the square is a statue honouring Queen Victoria from a model by C. B. Birch, unveiled in 1894.

[42] A monument to John McDouall Stuart, one of Australia's premier explorers, is situated in Victoria Square and was heritage listed on 8 March 2013.

Sculpted by John White, it was unveiled on 4 June 1904 by Alexander McLachlan, who as chief of the South Australian Caledonian Society led fundraising efforts for its erection.

This opened Central Australia for pastoral use and led to the South Australian government's successful case for control over the Northern Territory.

Sturt is depicted in the working clothes of an outback explorer, leaning forward, shielding his eyes from the sun with his right hand and peering into the distance.

[46] British sculptor Alfred Drury was commissioned to create the statue, and it was placed in a central location on the northwestern side, facing down Grote Street towards his West Adelaide electorate.

After the Black Lives Matter gained pace in June 2020, with various statues representing slave traders and various perpetrators of racism being removed or defaced both in the US and in the UK during the George Floyd protests, archaeologist and historian Jacinta Koolmatrie argued it is ironic that the statue is placed so close to the Aboriginal flag in the square, which was also the site of the Adelaide Black Lives Matter protest.